Data also part of multi-year partnership

Facebook and Publicis Groupe announced a broad ad partnership today drawing another media agency closer to the social network. Facebook’s photo-sharing app Instagram also is part of the multi-year deal with the French media holding company and its Starcom MediaVest Group, which committed to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

“[The deal] focuses on the future areas of digital marketing including data, image-based storytelling and online video advertising, offering the agencies’ clients new opportunities ahead of the marketplace,” a Facebook rep said in a statement to Adweek.

Starcom CEO Laura Desmond led the talks for all of Publicis, and the expansive media deal comprises digital agency underlings like Razorfish and DigitasLBi. It is not the first companywide commitment from Publicis, but not all deals have included the whole organization. Last year for instance, Starcom negotiated individually with Twitter in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Facebook deal was worth more than the Twitter one, a source familiar with the terms said, although exact terms were not disclosed.

What makes the agreement unique is the fact that Facebook was able to include access to new ad products and audience insights that were not available until recently.

“This partnership is about inventory plus innovation,” said a source close to Starcom. “It’s about creating the infrastructure that needs to be put in place to advertise on Facebook.”

Publicis will develop advertising tools to integrate with the Facebook Audience Network, which was launched on mobile last month. Publicis also will have access to Instagram and Facebook video ads; both require close communication with the social network, which carefully approves all advertising content. A source close to Facebook said that deals with the media holding companies are the best way to expand Instagram’s ad business, which does not offer any programmatic tools for the buying and selling of ads.

“Facebook is nurturing that environment to make sure ad experiences that come in are very natural to Instagram,” said one source not authorized to discuss the Publicis deal publicly.

Facebook and Instagram have done similar deals in the past, offering media agencies unique ways to access inventory and test new ad products. Omnicom, which almost merged with Publicis, has negotiated relationships with Facebook and Instagram, according to industry sources not authorized to discuss such deals. Omnicom signed a deal earlier this year with Instagram.

Sources said that Facebook’s deals typically include early access to new products, the ability to target customized audiences, and unique campaign insights and measurements based on its data.